Orange Coast College

Swimming: Bernard, relay each claim state titles!

Friday, May 04, 2007

FREMONT - Only one day has elapsed in the California Community College Athletic Association State Swimming and Diving Championships and already sophomore Damien Bernard is getting weighed down with gold medals.

The sophomore standout won the state title in the 200-yard individual medley and swam the second leg on the Pirates' victorious 400 medley relay, highlighting the opening day of action at Ohlone College.

Bernard was in third place at the halfway point of the 200 IM before taking control of the race in the breaststroke, where he swam the 50-yard leg in 32.19, nearly two full seconds better than leader Chris Spriggs of Ventura.

From there, Bernard (pictured left) came through with a 26.35 freestyle leg to finish with a winning time of 1:52.22. Spriggs was second with a 1:52.62 and OCC teammate Joe Krone finished third with a 1:54.78.

In the 400 medley relay, Krone got out strong as OCC was sitting in second place behind Ventura after 100 yards before Bernard took the next 100 in 56.77, giving the Pirates a 1.4 second lead over Diablo Valley and a 2.3 second advantage over Ventura at the halfway point.

Josh Knight took over and swam the next 100 in 50.63 -- fastest segment among the rest of the field -- giving OCC a two-second lead on the rest of the field. That was more than enough as freshman Greg Hulse swam the final 100 in a time of 46.92, giving the Pirates the state championship with a winning time of 3:27.07.

Other strong performances for the Pirates include 200 free relay (3rd, 1:24.8), Jimmy Cule (3rd, 4:36.52) and Josh Knight (7th, 4:45.52) in the 500 free and Hulse in the 50 free (8th, 21.59).

After the first day of competition, the Pirates are in second place with 157 points, trailing Ventura, which has 179.5 points. Diablo Valley is third with 117.5 points.

On the women's side, the Pirates are currently tied for fourth with Saddleback with 74 points, trailing Diablo Valley (137), Sierra (93) and Ventura (83).

Leading the way was the women's 200 free relay of Tiffany Libman, Tuesday Schellinger, Ashlee Gray and Hailey Barker, who finished third with a time of 1:41.95.

Barker, Gray, Schellinger and Smith teamed up for the 400 medley relay and finished fifth with a time of 4:12.67.

Adding to already-busy schedule, Barker also swam in the 500 free and finished eighth with a time of 5:25.07.

The State Championships continue throughout the day and will conclude on Saturday.